“Nobody feeds us.” In new exchanges between Russian soldiers and their families, intercepted by the Ukrainian army and revealed by the daily The GuardianThe difficulties of the mobilization at the end of September by Vladimir Putin of 300,000 men to go fight on the Ukrainian front are confirmed once again.
The documents show troops lacking everything, including water, frustrated at not being able to achieve the objectives set out by the Russian General Staff. But also a lack of knowledge of the most fundamental principles of cybersecurity.
A mother’s concern
Among the exchanges revealed this Tuesday by the guardian, Andrei’s particularly illustrates the state of decrepitude in which Vladimir Putin’s soldiers remain. During a call with his mother in November, the soldier, stationed on the front lines near the town of Lyman, conquered by the Russians early in the conflict and then taken by the Ukrainians this fall, returned to these difficult living conditions.
“Nobody gives us food, mom. Our supply is really bad. We collect water from puddles, then we filter it and drink it,” he says during the call intercepted by the Ukrainians. .
On the other end of the receiver, Andrei’s mother does not hide her dismay. “What a nightmare, where can I go to complain?” she asks her son. “Nowhere. Only on television does everything go well,” replies her son.
“This shows me once again that this is what is being said on television, it is nonsense. (…) Where are the missiles that Putin boasted of so much,” Andrei then pushes.
“They allowed this massacre”
The soldier’s frustration is all the greater since, with the right ammunition, Andreï assures us that certain military objectives could be achieved. “There is a tall building in front of us. Our soldiers cannot reach it, whereas we would only need a single cruise missile to bring it down,” he said.
The state of material helplessness in which certain Russian troops find themselves is confirmed by a second appeal, also revealed by the guardian this Tuesday, intercepted this time between a Russian soldier and his wife. “I’m in a sleeping bag, soaked and constantly exhausted,” he laments.
“They allowed this massacre,” the soldier fumes.
Lack of knowledge of security principles.
Although it is also used to support Ukrainian propaganda, the conversations revealed by the guardian They offer a startling insight into the unpreparedness of the Russian mobilization on the Ukrainian front.
The calls may have been intercepted because they were made on unsecured cell phones. At the start of the war, internet users with no defense training had even managed to intercept exchanges revealing Russian military strategy on public radio frequencies, recalls the guardian.
“There are still many soldiers who bring mobile phones to the front because they want to maintain a connection with their families. They are intercepted when they are carried out through a Ukrainian telephone operator or stopped in the air,” he confesses. to the British newspaper Dmitri Alperovitch, an expert in cybersecurity.
In March, exchanges revealed this time by the New York Times had already shown the extent of disorder among Russian soldiers, some calling Vladimir Putin a “fool,” others considering taking Kyiv a chimerical goal. In early December, the New York newspaper returned with new recordings, during which soldiers reported being shelled by their own artillery.
Source: BFM TV
